By Lauren Molinari
Dogg’s Hamlet, Cahoot’s Macbeth, was a humorous, yet bizarre combination of Dogg’s Hamlet, which was spoken in a unique code language, known as ‘Dogg,’ and a condensed version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The play took place in Emily Lowe Hall, from Dec 1-4, and was directed by Ian Poake, a BFA performance major.
The play begins with the tap of an un-amplified microphone, and a quirky schoolgirl named Baker, played by Maria Camilo, who repeatedly recites ” sun, dock, trog,” which automatically some may question. Moments later, she is accompanied by two other lively students, Abel (Taylor Phillips) who carries a satchel, and Charlie (Peter Previte), who oddly wears a floral patterned pastel dress.
The students set the mood of the play, by speaking in a strangely intriguing language while trying to set up the dead microphone. Using words such as “gym shoes,” “daisy squire,”” artichoke,” ” hand sanitizer,” and ” marzipan clocks,” became confusing to understand but the tone and energy in which they were said left the audience in a roar of laughter, nonetheless.
Easy, played by Kathryn Turley, appears to be a handywoman and energetically enters the scene from an outside side door. She darts back and forth from the cold of the night to center stage— electrifying it by the way she throws the black cardboard boxes, painted with white letters, and numerous planks to the students.
Easy seems to speak understandable English, and Dogg as well.
The students help her build and constantly rearrange a platform using the blocks and planks, while uttering out words to the each other such as ” block,” “plank,” “slab,” and “cube,” that they seem to understand.
This continues for the entire first half of the play.
Later, the ambiguous Hamlet, performed quite accurately by Conor Burke who gave the role of Hamlet a bit of a risible spin, goes through many phases.
Similar to Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, the summary of the story was done fast-paced, and precisely covered the plot, with the addition of exuberant personality from all of the characters.
The second half of the play, Cahoot’s Macbeth, started out in English, but then became puzzling at times when the language revolved back into ‘Dogg.’
The beginning of the play gave off an ominous spirit, with three witches (Taylor Phillips, Maria Camilo and Peter Previte) who did a miraculous job of interacting with the audience, and creating a spooky feel.
Macbeth (Ben Pike) lives in an apartment that is being inspected by a villainous Inspector (Cassie DeMarco), who tries to shut down the apartment, which winds up failing. Although the inspector’s plot to take down Macbeth failed, DeMarco did a phenomenal job of dominating the second half of the play with her richly robust attitude.
Overall, the revival for modern audience was confusing at times. However, considering the three- week time frame in which the play was put together, the energy of the cast members made for a delightfully engaging atmosphere.